Psychology applied to education : a series of lectures on the theory & practice of education / by James Ward ; edited by G. Dawes Hicks.

  • James Ward
Date:
1926
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Psychology applied to education : a series of lectures on the theory & practice of education / by James Ward ; edited by G. Dawes Hicks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    if I mistake not, said, “an ounce of brains is worth a ton of appa¬ ratus.” And this which is true of science is equally true of practical life. Yet, on reflection, we must own that intellectual ability, however great, is rather a means than an end; and history tells us of only too many instances in which the highest intellect has been a curse both to its possessor and to the world. And not merely so, but to accomplish anything remarkable, whether good or bad, intellectual power must be directed by fixed purpose. Very inferior talents, combined with decision and steadiness of purpose, continually turn out superior in the race of life. A strong will is, then, even more a desideratum than a strong intellect; and we in England, at all events, admire pre-eminent determination and tenacity of purpose even more than pre-eminent intellectual endowment. But resolu¬ tion, constancy and self-control, with vigour of mind and body to boot, do not, as we have seen, constitute a man perfect: he may have all these and be a fiend. There must not only be a strong will but a good will. In fact, Kant has hardly expressed himself too emphatically in saying, “there is nothing in the world which can be termed absolutely and altogether good, a good will alone ex¬ cepted.” And by ‘good will* we should, of course, understand more than mere benevolence, a will which is determined, as Mr Thring in his excellent little book, Education and the School, would put it, by a right love and a right hate. And here first we come upon decided difference of opinion; but, from the point of view of educational theory, the difference is not really serious. What are the right things to love and seek, and what the right things to avoid and hate, are questions that different people will answer differently as soon as they descend to details; but with such details the theory of education is not concerned. Moral excellence is, then, the first and paramount aim of secular education: to the power of self-rule, which alone will secure internal freedom, peace within a man, there must be added a living spirit of right and benevolence, and an earnest and hearty activity for some end worthy of human energies and of a human life. In subordination to the attainment of such moral excellence, and as a means to it, the educator will seek also so to exercise the bodily and mental powers of the young as to ensure a maximum permanent efficiency. Permanent efficiency, I say, and it is a point of such importance that I cannot forbear emphasizing it even now in passing, though I shall have to refer to it again and again. The fondness which parents and school-teachers so often display for
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